PC Troubleshooting Guide

CPU failure

If you experience frequent CPU failures and get feedback from the store that the power supply has blown. Try to get a larger capacity or higher rated power supply. You might have too many devices hooked up to the power supply (internal and externally) both of which take power from the same power supply if they have no individual power adapter. Say if you have a 300 or 400 watt power supply, try getting hold of a 500 watt or higher model and try to get the bit pricy one so it would last. Repetitive power supply failures can cause damage to the internal parts of your CPU and even the board itself which has built in fuses to protect the Microprocessor unit itself from such damage. If the board has also failed, you would have to get another board to transfer the cpu onto.

Windows error

If your PC boot�s up but doesn�t load windows, then it might have been shut down without using the shutdown facility provided. To fix it, simply press F7 and select safe mode from the command line menu and follow all in-screen instructions. Some files or system drivers get damaged by such events so have the driver cd�s at hand. Once the check disk facility finishes, you should be able to gain access to your PC normally. If it still won�t load properly, try shutting down and re-starting for there might be some corrupted programs that need to be restored. Try getting the windows installation CD�s and re-install windows to restore all the damaged system files.

Screech….ing hard drive – Inspecting the PC (Part 1)

Well, this might not be a sound you would want to hear from your hard drive, for it might be in it’s death throes. The screeching sound may be the bearings that make the platters spin breaking down or they have been in use for so long they have worn out the hard metal coatings on the teeny tiny bearings. The first thing you do is to copy as much data that you can to another hard drive to prevent total disaster. Most drives will continue to function for sometime before total failure of the drive. You’ll be glad to know that they have become more reliable than ever but that does not mean totally.

Computer Basics : Essential for troubleshooting Part-2

If this is your first time, get hold of a can of compressed air specifically developed for cleaning computers and not from your garage compressor. Canned air is moisture free to avoid contaminating the electronics. Hold the Power supply for a few minutes while you take a look inside to admire the parts (this discharges any static electricity from you) Check all vents for the internal fans along with the one for the power supply. If they are dirty try to blow air through them to remove all dust and debris from all visible parts. If the said computer is visually dusty, you might want to do this outside the house. Also pay close attention to the CPU and blow air onto the fan and heat sink. Once you are satisfied and all visible dust and fido hairs are gone, you can reverse the process and take the camera shots to re-connect all the cables and chords that you took out and boot up. A clean computer runs cooler and more efficiently, besides too much dust on any of the internal components can lead to parts failure due to the insulating properties of dust.

What is Data Backup?

Image source: www.it-security-blog.com
Data backup is the act of ensuring your important information (which could be customer contact details for a business or cherished photos for a home user) isn’t only stored in a single place, which leaves it vulnerable to being lost through damage or theft. Since a backup system contains at least one copy of all important data, the risk of total data loss is minimized. And any data loss does not result in a total standstill of the business or heartache for the home user. Using the backup data, the system can be restored and normal service resumed.

Finding the right data backup solution can be confusing. It depends on what to backup, how to backup and what type of computer or network is being used. It might sometimes seem difficult to choose the right backup solution. Not because they are difficult to find, but because there are so many of them.

Screech….ing hard drive – Finishing the Job (Part 6)

One drive systems usually have no jumpers while two or more drive systems can have them installed. Set your errant drive as the slave and the master drive (the new one) as the master drive. Install the drive and screw securely while ensuring all power cables and connectors are set in their proper places before you power up. Partition the new drive if desired and format each partition (this ensures no malicious programs might have been innocently???? left in the drive during testing by the retailer or manufacturer) even if the retailer who sold you the drive says it is factory formatted. Re-install the OS, drivers and all the other programs; re-copy all the necessary files and you’re all set to go. Oh, don’t forget to take out the errant drive after you copy all your documents and files (the drive can fail and damage the computer if the controller board shorts due to failure of the mechanical parts damaging the rest of your computer including the new drive).